Jan. 14, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's and women's track and field teams head to Bloomington, Ind., this Saturday to take on intrastate Big Ten archrival Indiana University in an indoor dual meet at Gladstein Fieldhouse. Led by NCAA provisional qualifiers Adetayo Adesanya, Brianna Neumann and Stacey Wannemacher, the Boilermakers look to add several more national qualifiers in their clash with the Hoosiers this weekend.
Saturday's action will be conducted in accordance to NCAA dual meet rules, awarding five points to an event winner, three points to the runner-up and one point to the third-place finisher. A team may sweep first through third place in an event, while relays are worth five points to the winning team.
Adesanya headlined the Purdue men's opener last weekend, matching his indoor career best in the high jump at 2.14 meters (7-00.25). Hot on his heels were juniors Shane Crawford, Josh Hembrough, Rashad Cannon and Bill Hardcastle, who all were just shy of provisional standards across the board. Crawford opened the season in blistering fashion, posting the conference's top time in the 60-meter dash at 6.72 seconds, and missing the NCAA provisional standard by just one hundredth of a second.
A 2009 Indoor All-American, Hembrough also leads the conference with a time of 7.98 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles, but owns a career-best of 7.77 in the event. He's won three Big Ten Championships in his first two seasons, including the 60-meter hurdle title in 2008, and has his sights on the NCAA automatic standard of 7.70 this season. Cannon launched a mark of 7.33 meters (24-00.75) in the long jump on Saturday, good for the Big Ten lead and just 17 centimeters short of NCAA provisional qualification (7.50m/24-07.25). Hardcastle tossed the Big Ten's third-best mark in the shot put, marking 17.03 meters (55-10.50) on Saturday, while hurling a personal record in the weight throw at 16.88 meters (55-04.75).
Senior Eric Sparks is set to make his season debut this weekend in the pole vault, looking to earn NCAA provisional qualification for the second straight season. He has an indoor career best of 5.20 meters (17-00.75), has won the last two Big Ten Outdoor Championships and has an all-time top clearance of 5.41 meters (17-09.00). He'll earn ample support in the event from junior Chris Thoman and freshmen Mitch Erickson and Kyle Campbell, who tied for the top mark at the Purdue Invitational.
Also making their season debut on Saturday is junior Caden Shields and sophomore Simon Rogers, who look to have impressive seasons in the distance area. Shields was the Boilermakers' first NCAA Cross Country Championship qualifier in 22 years, and is set to break out on the track, while Rogers comes to Purdue from the University of Otago in New Zealand and can contribute anywhere from the 800- to the 3,000-meter run. The Boilermakers will look for help in the distance races from sophomore Ladd Mercer and freshman Charles White as well, who were solid in the 800 and one-mile run at the Purdue Invitational last weekend.
The Boilermakers will look for help in the long sprints and middle distances from juniors Jacob Palmer and Andy Dunn, and sophomores Josh Lee, Mike Willey and Gabe Pirtle. Palmer won the 800-meter run at the Purdue Invitational in 1:55.41, while Pirtle topped the 600-meter run in 1:21.07 and Lee and Dunn finished the 400 in 50.77 and 50.87, respectively. Willey scored a time of 8.37 in the 60-meter hurdles on Saturday, but placed in the 200-meter dash at the Big Ten Indoor and Outdoor Championships last season, with a top indoor time of 21.65.
Neumann and Wannemacher had exploding starts to their indoor seasons on the women's side, not only posting personal records, but some of the top showings in Purdue's indoor history. Neumann improved her indoor best by 13 centimeters last weekend, clearing 4.10 meters (13-05.25). The mark is third best in school history, second best in the conference and fifth best in NCAA Division I this season. Wannemacher smashed her own indoor school record in the shot put, tossing the second-best mark in the conference and the third-longest throw in the country at 16.24 meters (53-03.50). She also notched the third- best weight throw mark in the conference on Saturday, hurling a personal record 18.18 meters (59-07.75).
The Boilermakers own the Big Ten lead in the long jump and triple jump, courtesy of sophomore Leah Eber and senior Nkeiru Ugwoaba. Eber posted a career-high 5.91 meters (19-04.75) last weekend, matching the fifth-best indoor mark in Purdue history, while Ugwoaba went 11.86 meters (38-11.00) and is the defending Big Ten Champion and Boilermaker indoor record holder. Looking to strengthen both events and make her season debut this weekend is senior Christina Madison, who shares the third-longest indoor long jump in school history at 6.06 meters (19-10.75) and placed in the triple jump at the 2009 Big Ten Indoor Championships. All three Boilermakers are capable of solid times in the 60-meter dash as well, clocking times just over eight seconds last season.
Junior Emily Breslin will be in search of a new indoor personal record in the women's high jump, falling just shy of the mark last weekend as she cleared 1.73 meters (5-08.00) at the Purdue Invitational. Sophomore Elise Glass, senior Rachel Stalzer and freshman Kari Shoolbraid look to hold down the sprints area, posting the Boilermakers' top times in the 60-, 200-, 400- and 600-meter dash events. The distances will be covered by seniors Kristin Phillips and Nan Hammel, who own the Boilermakers' top marks in the mile and 800-meter run, respectively.
Indiana will provide live results of Saturday's action, scheduled to start at 2 p.m., with a variety of men's and women's field events. A full recap of the event will be available upon its completion at PurdueSports.com.